Rich and Creamy Left Over Turkey Pot Pie (Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Low Glycemic, Less Fat)
Turkey left overs are almost better than the first round! This pot pie is serious comfort food, and you can eat it without feeling guilty, because it’s actually quite healthy…full of vegetables, bean flour, turkey, and nuts, but very low in saturated fat, refined sugars, and high glycemic flours. If you haven’t bought bean flour yet, you really need to! It’s super good for you, adds tons of richness and flavor to sauces and baking, and is affordable. Because of it’s high protein level, bean flour is used in a lot of gluten free breads, as well. Here’s the link for it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Flour-24-Ounce/dp/B004VLVKXA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384908434&sr=8-1&keywords=white+bean+flour
OK, back to this recipe. Here’s how I made the pot pie:
For the Stew:
1 Small Onion, Diced
4 Garlic Cloves, Minced
2 Carrots, Peeled and sliced
2 Cups Diced Potatoes (skin on…use red and/or sweet to keep it low glycemic)
1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms
3 Stalks Organic Celery, Sliced
1/2 Cup Chopped Herbs (I didn’t feel like chopping them, so I bundled them up with a rubber band, then pulled it out before pouring into the baking dish)
1 Tbsp Coconut Oil (use the spray)
1/2 Cup White Wine
2-3 Cups Left Over Turkey, Chunked
4 Cups Organic Broth or Stock (I used Chicken)
1 Cup White Bean Flour
1 Cup Frozen Peas
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Spray the bottom of your large dutch oven with the oil and heat it over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add all of the other veggies, except peas and garlic. Cook until potatoes are soft (not too soft), adding oil if they are too dry. You don’t need a lot of oil, so try to avoid the excess fat if you can. I use coconut oil, because it has some great health benefits, and is a lot more stable than olive (olive oil’s molecular structure changes when heated, and it becomes a poison). Sprinkle the whole mixture with salt and pepper. Add the garlic one minute before the next step.
Pour in the white wine and reduce it down for about 2 minutes. Stir in the bean flour and cook for another minute. Add the herbs and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes. Make sure the mixture is at your desired consistency at this point. Add more broth if it’s too thick, or more bean flour if it’s too watery. Also add more salt and pepper, if needed. Do your best not to add too much salt!
Turn off the heat and add the turkey chunks and peas. Adding the peas at the last second helps keep them from turning brown. You may transfer the stew to a casserole dish, or let it sit for a while, until you’re ready to finish it. I did all my prepwork this afternoon, before my weekly office time. That made it easy to just pop in the oven later!
For the Crust:
First, if you don’t like how the dark flecks in the crust look, don’t worry. Just use blanched almond meal that has no skins in it. Your crust will turn out much lighter. I like keeping the skins in there, though, because they add fiber. Here’s how to make the crust:
2 Cups Nut Flour (I noticed Trader Joe’s now has cashew flour!)
1/2 Cup GF Pancake Mix
3-5 Tbsp Unsweetened Plain Almond Milk (or water)
Dash of Salt
Combine nut flour, pancake mix, and salt in a bowl and mix with a fork. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time and stir it in. Add as little as you can to get the mixture to look crumbly, like this (the pic is upside down, but you’ll get it):
Use your fingers to bring the dough together into a ball. Place it in the center of a large piece of parchment paper, like this:
Cover it with another large piece of parchment paper and roll it into a large flat piece that is about the size of your casserole dish. Note: if you use a 13×9 dish you’ll probably need more crust. If the dough cracks just fill in the gaps and keep rolling. I got some creases in the paper, which were easily fixed by flipping it over and straightening out the sheets.
Take off the top piece of parchment paper and try to get your forearm underneath the crust (and the bottom piece of paper). Flip the dough onto the top of the stew in the casserole dish. Make the edges look nice by pinching them and pressing with a fork. By the way, this pie crust works great with sweet pies, too. Poke some holes in the top so that the steam can escape.
Baking times will vary, but I baked mine at 400 degrees for about an hour. Part way through I sprayed the top with more coconut oil to help it get brown and crispy. It still didn’t want to, so I eventually put it under the broiler for a couple minutes. Next time I’ll probably bake it at 425 degrees, and will spray it with coconut oil at the very beginning.
Enjoy!!!
